


Don't Be Scared 'Cause I'm On Your Side

by RavenpuffWrites



Series: You're The Sunflower [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (yet), Gen, Just some good ol' Steve and Peter bonding while Tony is gone, Kid Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Peter Parker isn't Spider-Man, Steve and Tony are both soft for Peter he has them wrapped around his finger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23701348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenpuffWrites/pseuds/RavenpuffWrites
Summary: “You should talk to someone,” Tony said, softly, seriously. “I know a few people who are pretty good at dealing with the whole trauma thing. If you’re interested… Just let me know.”“I’ll think about it,” Steve agreed, and though he doesn’t say it, Tony can tell by the way Steve is looking at Peter that he understands exactly where Tony was coming from. The words hang in the air between them for a long moment.For him. Think about it for him.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: You're The Sunflower [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1469042
Comments: 10
Kudos: 193





	Don't Be Scared 'Cause I'm On Your Side

Tony would be back in the morning. He had only left on business last night, some time after putting Peter to bed, promising he would be back before his son even noticed he was gone. It was only a business meeting. There was nothing for him to be worried about.

And for most of the day, Peter could ignore the fact his dad wasn’t there, because Ned came over to play for a while, and Natasha had kept them distracted learning morse code and how to sneak around like proper spies.

Peter wished now he had taken up the offer to have Ned stay the night instead of sending him home after dinner, because at least he wouldn’t be alone right now. Even wearing one of Tony’s hoodies and clutching his teddy bear, listening to one of the recordings of a story his dad had made back when he was just a baby, even with all the things that usually helped him on a night like this, he couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

It was the first time since the Battle of New York his dad had left the tower for more than a few hours, and although logically Peter knew he should be safe, he could help the anxiety bubbling in his stomach and wrapping around his chest telling him he wasn’t. Not like it would be the first time his dad was supposed to be safe, only for him to be attacked and almost die.

Peter had always hated his dad going on business trips, but ever since he had been captured in Afghanistan, Peter hated them even more. Especially now that as CEO Pepper would accompany Tony more often than not on these trips, leaving Peter totally alone if anything should happen.

Not that it ever did but…

He worried about it. Every time his dad left on a trip, he worried that someone would call him up like Uncle Rhodey had on that day and break the news his dad was missing, or worse that he was dead.

Of course, Peter never told his dad about this fear because if he knew, Tony would probably refuse to ever go out of town without Peter again, and it wasn’t like he could just ask his dad to stop his life because he missed him.

It was fine. Peter was used to dealing with it, and Tony didn’t have to leave for meetings all that often overnight, so it wasn’t like it was the end of the world. Anyways the two of them would have a lazy day on the couch watching movies when Tony got home, because that’s what they always did. And that would calm his anxiety down until it no longer had a reason to scream, because his dad would be there and safe and Peter would be able to relax again.

All he had to do was make it through the night.

Which shouldn’t be so hard to do, but the image of his dad flying into a space portal was still burned in his head, the words of reporters ringing in his head that Tony Stark had just sacrificed himself, he was _dead._

Peter whimpered softly as the images flashed through his head of his dad dead, never coming back to him. His dad _promised_ he would come home safe. But it wouldn’t be the first time Tony would have broken that promise, and as much as Peter trusted his dad in every other aspect of life, this was the one place he couldn’t.

“JARVIS?” Peter whispered softly into the living room, pulling his teddy closer to his chest so that it would start to glow, the soft blue light mimicking the one in his dad’s chest, providing just a small amount of comfort to him.

“Yes, Peter? What can I do for you?”

“Do you know where my dad is? Has he gotten back on the quinjet yet?” Peter asked, hopefully, although he knew that it was unlikely he had. LA was three hours behind New York City which meant it was hardly 8 pm there. There were at least another few hours before his dad would likely be free. But a boy could hope.

“According to his watch, Boss is still at dinner with several investors. His schedule does not indicate he will be heading home until 10 pm pst. Would you like me to contact him and say you request him to come home early?”

Peter shook his head, although he wasn’t sure if JARVIS would even be able to pick that up. “No, no. Don’t interrupt him. If he leaves early it’ll look bad and Pepper will be upset. I just… wanted to check and see. Thank you anyways, J.”

“Of course, sir.”

Peter sighed, shifting restlessly in the cocoon of blankets he had made for himself on the couch in an attempt to fall asleep before his mind had time to wander. It didn’t work though, and now he was _awake,_ probably for good, all because his anxiety wanted to be mean.

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there trying to watch tv, shooting up every time his eyes began to drift shut and images of his dad flashed across his eyelids. He was trying desperately to not let his anxiety get too bad, because if he had an attack, JARVIS would alert his dad and Tony would rush home and Peter would ruin everything.

“Captain Rogers is currently awake on the common floor,” JARVIS said suddenly, snapping Peter from his thoughts. It was as if the AI could tell he was on the edge of a panic attack (which considering who made him, Peter wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case), and so he brought up something he thought might help. “Perhaps he would enjoy your company since neither of you are currently sleeping.”

“Mr. America is still awake?” Peter frowned, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he debated if he should go downstairs or not, because really he didn’t know the man all that well yet. And it was late, he probably didn’t want to be disturbed. Was probably getting ready for bed.

“Captain Rogers suffers from insomnia, and as such is usually awake most nights. He usually hangs out in the common room, likely waiting for someone else to stop in for a while.” JARVIS replied, as if he could read Peter’s mind. “I could ask him if he would mind you coming down for you if you would like, Peter.”

Peter shook his head again. “I can go see for myself I guess.”

Peter hesitated for a moment, before making the decision to climb off the couch, wrapping his favorite blanket around his shoulder and gripping his teddy bear to his chest as he walked to the elevator.

As he went down, he asked JARVIS “Hey J? Will you let my dad know where I am before he gets home, so he doesn’t worry too much?”

“Of course, Peter. Once boss is headed home, I will let him know of your changed placement in the tower.”

“Thanks, JARVIS.”

The elevator dinged quietly as it opened on the Avengers common floor. When Peter stepped out, the first thing he noticed was the sound of somebody playing the piano. Instantly his ears perked up as he walked towards the sound, because while the piano had sat around in the tower for years, Peter had never heard someone play it until today.

It sounded beautiful, and Peter needed to know who was playing it and ask them immediately if they would teach him how because wouldn’t that be a cool thing to surprise his dad with!

Peter crept his way over the piano silently, stopping only when he was standing directly beside the bench, staring wide-eyed and captivated at the hands as they flew across the keys in a fast but fluid motion he couldn’t follow.

He knew Mr. America was good at art, but no one had ever mentioned he could play the piano so well! He was amazing.

Peter took a step forward, his eyes never leaving the keyboard, and ran straight into the bench in front of the piano. Steve jumped at the sudden jolt, hands frantically smashing random keys as he turned to face Peter, defense turning into confusion as he realized who it was behind him.

“Jesus, Peter, you scared me. Where in the world did you come from?”

Peter grinned just slightly, dropping his blanket on the floor so he could climb up beside Mr. America when he motioned for him to, replying honestly: “I came from my bedroom.”

Steve rolled his eyes, poking Peter gently in his side right where he was ticklish, causing Peter to giggle loudly and attempt to scoot away from him. “Okay Mr. Smartie Pants.”

Peter smiled, already feeling a whole lot better now that he wasn’t alone, although his mood deflated slightly when Steve asked him: “What are you doing up so late? Shouldn’t you be asleep right now?”

Peter shrugged, looking down at the piano and running his fingers over the keys, pressing down on a couple to test their sounds. “I couldn’t sleep. J said you were still awake, so I thought I could hang out for a bit.”

“Peter, you know I love hanging out with you, but don’t you think it’s a good idea to try and get some sleep?” Steve asked, frowning when Peter quickly shook his head, shooting down the idea immediately. “Why not?”

Peter just shrugged again, worrying his lip between his teeth as he continued to try and reproduce the sound Steve was creating earlier with one hand, although he couldn’t remember most of the notes if he tried. His other held his still glowing teddy to his chest, and seeing the light it occurred to Steve what was going on.

“You miss your dad, kiddo?” Steve asked gently, thinking he had cracked the code, but what he wasn’t prepared for was for Peter to respond.

“I’m worried about him,” Peter’s voice was soft, and without his super hearing, Steve wasn't convinced he would have been able to pick it up. Peter wouldn’t look at him as he spoke, but he had halted his movements against the keys, which made Steve think he wanted to be heard. “I know it’s stupid. It’s just a business meeting and he’s really safe, I know that. But…”

“But you’re worried anyway?” Steve guessed, and Peter nodded, still not looking up at Steve.

“I always get worried when he’s gone,” Peter explained, moving to wrap both his arms around his teddy bear, causing the light to glow a little bit brighter. “Ever since Afghanistan… But most of the time I can distract myself enough to fall asleep ‘til he gets back.”

“But that’s not working this time?” Steve asked, and this time Peter shook his head, peering up at the man beside him for a long moment before he admitted

“Ever since the Battle of New York, I keep having these nightmares of my dad not…” Peter’s voice wavered slightly, and when Steve looked closer, he could notice the tears building in the boy’s eyes. But they didn’t fall, not even when Peter said “Not coming back through the portal. The news said he died and I… I can’t stop thinking about what if he did?”

“And usually when he’s here, I can just sneak into daddy’s room and make sure he’s still okay, but this is the first time he’s been gone and I just…” Peter sniffled softly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand as he tried his best not to actively start crying. JARVIS would definitely alert his dad if he started crying, because he had programmed that in from the time Peter was a baby.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Steve said, feeling way in over his head as he looked down at the scared boy in front of him, wondering what the right thing to say was and what he should do. Sure he knew to some degree how to handle kids, years of experience first with Bucky’s siblings and then as Captain America led him to have at least some instinct with children, but Peter was unlike any child he had ever met and Steve wasn’t exactly sure how to comfort a kid who had almost lost his dad more times than he liked to count. “Your dad is going to come home safe before you know, I promise. And until then, you’re more than welcome to stay down here with me if that helps. I know when I have nightmares I would rather not be in my room.”

“You have nightmares?” Peter asked, his eyes widening dramatically as if it had never even occurred to him the great Captain America might have things he was scared of, just like him.

“Everyone has nightmares, Peter. Especially considering the part of the life we live, it’s something that comes along with the job.” Steve explained, and Peter ducked his head blushing slightly because yeah okay that made sense. He knew his dad had nightmares sometimes (probably more often than he ever let Peter know), but he never considered anyways else would have them too. That, at least, made him feel a little better.

“Is that why you don’t sleep a lot?” Peter asked, remembering what JARVIS told him earlier about Steve suffering from insomnia. “Cause of your nightmares?”

“Guess you could say it’s part of the reason, yeah. I spent quite a bit of my life trapped in a bed though, and then frozen under ice, so I guess my mind just has a hard time coming to terms with me willingly resting for too long.” Steve explained, and Peter nodded in understanding because brains not wanting to rest? Now that was something he was a _pro_ at. His brain never wanted him to rest much. “I’ve been trying to use the nights no one else is around to teach myself how to play the piano again. I used to know pretty well back when I was a kid, but it’s been a while so I’m a little rusty.”

“I think you sounded great, Mr. America,” Peter said earnestly, scooting closer to the man on the bench, hoping that maybe he could convince him to play a little bit more so he could watch him. “I’ve never heard someone play daddy’s piano before. I thought maybe it was broken since no one ever touched it.”

“A little out of tune maybe, but it certainly wasn’t broken,” Steve grinned, an idea popping into his head of how he could help Peter maybe feel a little bit better while they waited for Tony to come home. “You know, Peter, I was about your age when my best friend started teaching me how to play the piano. If you wanted, I could teach you a bit.”

Peter perked up instantly, nodding his head. “I would love that, Mr. America!”

* * *

Eventually (as Steve had hoped would happen), Peter started to doze off. Slowly Steve noticed the boy leaning more and more against his side, eventually losing interest in learning in favor of listening to Steve play a few songs. It’s not until he feels a head drop on his shoulder, and look over to see Peter’s eyes are closed that he stops playing. The lack of sound had Peter opening his eyes instantly, and Steve couldn’t help but laugh softly at the tired indignation on the kid’s face. “I think that’s enough piano for tonight, kiddo. You need to get some rest.”

“I don’t want to!” Peter protested, sitting up quickly and scooting just a little bit away from Steve. He buried his face against his teddy bear, adding “I _can’t_ go to sleep. Not until dad gets home. I can’t have that nightmare again.”

Well, he really should have seen that one coming. It wasn’t like Steve could just force Peter to go to bed now, not after that confession. But he couldn’t just let him fall asleep at the piano either.

“How about we go watch some tv then?” Steve suggested, reaching down to pick up the blanket Peter had discarded earlier, gently draping it around the boy’s shoulders, earning him the smallest of smiles. “That way you can at least rest a bit until your dad gets home, even if you don’t fall asleep.”

“Can we watch the Dancing Princess movie?” Peter asked quietly, tugging the blanket tighter around himself. “I really like the music in it, and I know it really well so I don’t need to focus too much.”

“Of course, Peter. Why don't you go get comfortable on the couch and I’ll get us some hot chocolate and set things up?” Steve chuckled softly as Peter perked up at the mention of one of his favorite drinks, and slid off the piano bench quickly to find his favorite spot on the couch.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, not long after finishing his hot chocolate, Peter was out like a light on his end of the couch. When Steve looked over and noticed he just smiled softly, moving to turn the tv down a few notches before he got himself comfortable on his part of the couch.

Not long after Peter fell asleep, Steve found himself drifting off after him.

* * *

That’s how Tony found the pair when he got home early that morning. Asleep beside each other on the couch, although as he walked closer Steve began to stir awake.

“Hey,” Steve said quietly, pushing himself up into a seated position as Tony sat down beside Peter, absently smoothing the boy’s curls away from his face and searching for any sign of distress hiding there.

“Is he doing okay? JARVIS said he hadn’t been able to sleep.”

“He was just missing his dad,” Steve replied, watching as Tony continued to look over his son to make sure there was nothing else he had missed. After a moment he turned to Steve, asking him without words if that was really all there was to it. Usually just missing Tony didn’t warrant Peter not sleeping.

Steve sighed. “Has Peter mentioned to you that he’s been having nightmares recently? About the-“

“The Battle of New York?” Tony guessed, cutting Steve off and nodding his head. “Yeah. Pretty much every night after it happened. I thought they stopped in the past week which is the only reason I agreed to go to this stupid meeting in the first place. But I’m guessing that’s not the case?”

“No. Or, well at least not for last night. He wouldn’t talk much about it, but it must have been bad enough he didn’t want to go to sleep even when he could hardly keep his eyes open.” Steve said, watching Tony carefully as he spoke. There were a thousand emotions flashing across his face, but the ones he saw most clearly was the heartache of a parent watching their kid suffer, followed by the guilt of having caused the fear in the first place.

“I thought we had gotten past the stage of lying about nightmares,” Tony muttered, though whether he was speaking to Peter or to Steve was up in the air.

“Tony? Sorry, I don’t mean to overstep,” As Steve started to speak into the silence, Tony turned to look at him, tilting his head slightly and wearing an unreadable expression as he waited for Steve to continue. “Have you considered… Has Peter ever gone to see a therapist about all of this? It might help him out to have someone to talk to.”

“We’ve tried therapy before, Cap. After Afghanistan when I started to see a therapist myself, we tried to find someone for Peter to talk to but he just… refused. Every time he would come into the room and a therapist tried to speak with him he would shut down.” Tony sighed, looking back down at his son, who seemed to have sensed his presence even asleep and was slowly inching closer and closer to his dad. “We’ve tried everything to make him feel more comfortable. I would sit in on his sessions so he wouldn’t have to be alone; We brought the therapist to the tower thinking meeting on neutral ground would help; I even brought Peter into one of my sessions so he could see there was nothing to worry about. But every single time he shuts off. After a few weeks we figured it was probably causing him more stress than doing any good, so we dropped it. He knows if he ever does change his mind, I’ll set something up for him an instant. But for right now, as long as he keeps talking to me and we keep finding ways to cope that aren’t unhealthy, and as long as there aren’t any large shifts of his behavior, we’re letting him take as much time as he needs. It might not be an ideal situation, but… it’s what we have to work with.”

“You’re trying to figure out what’s best for him,” Steve nodded, and Tony gave him a grateful smile, clearly relieved that the other man wasn’t judging him for not pushing Peter more to talk to someone like other people had done in the past. “There’s no rule book for parenting. But you seem to be doing a pretty good job with Peter, all things considered.”

“Kid’s got you charmed too, hasn’t he?” Tony said after a long moment, laughing softly to hide the fact Steve’s words provided him with more comfort than he would ever care to admit. “Thank you, Steve. You must have made Peter feel pretty safe for him to fall asleep around you. And that’s not an easy thing to do, especially since he thought you were a zombie until last week.” 

Steve laughed quietly at the memory. “You know he told me the other day he was kind of disappointed I _wasn’t_ a zombie after all, because if science had brought people back from the dead and they were normal and nice and stuff, that would be scientifically really cool.”

“Jesus,” Tony snorted, shaking his head, looking a cross between exasperated and just plain fond. “This kid. ‘It would be cool’. God, he’s going to be the death of me, I swear.”

Peter made a loud whining sound as soon as Tony said that, reaching one hand out towards his dad blindly until he came in contact with his chest, settling the moment he could feel his heart still beating.

Tony softened instantly, reaching up to cover Peter’s hands with one of his own.

“You should probably get him to bed,” Steve said, as Peter began to stir slightly on the couch, signaling he was about to wake up. “Both of you seem pretty exhausted.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Tony agreed, gently moving Peter’s hand away after a moment so that he could stand up. Peter’s eyes cracked up just a tad as Tony leaned down to pick him up, and a sleepy smile crossed his face when he saw his dad was there. “Hey sleepyhead, go back to sleep okay? I’m just taking you upstairs to bed.”

Peter nodded, burying his face against Tony’s neck the moment he was settled in his dad’s arms. When he reached to grab Peter’s blanket, he realized that Steve was already holding it, and draped in gently over the boy so he wouldn’t get cold.

“Mhm, night Mr. ‘Merca,” Peter mumbled sleepily, and Steve couldn’t stop the soft smile that crossed his face at the boy’s words.

“Goodnight Peter.”

“Are you heading to bed too, Cap?” Tony asked, though he wasn’t sure where the question came from or that it was coming at all until he had already said it. Steve looked just as surprised as Tony about the question, but still he replied as easily as he could

“I will in a bit. There are a few things in here I should probably clean up first.”

Tony nodded although he didn’t buy the lie for a second, squinting his eyes slightly as he studied Steve’s face. This close he could the bags under his eyes and the clear signs of exhaustion that lay within them. Now that he thought about it, besides tonight he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen Steve sleeping before. Which really wasn’t that odd, except for the fact the man was almost always hanging out here in the living room or the kitchen, no matter what time of night it was or how early in the morning it got to be.

Did Steve sleep at all, Tony wondered? Or did he avoid sleep like Tony so often found himself doing, as Peter had been tonight?

“Have you-” Tony started, and then stopped, wondering if it was really his place to ask such a personal question, especially when he hardly knew the man at all. Peter really seemed to like him though, which meant Tony had a duty didn’t he to make sure that he was okay? “You mentioned Peter seeing a therapist, but have you considered seeing one yourself? I mean after all the time you spent as a Capsicle, it probably wouldn’t hurt to have someone you could talk to.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue that he was coping fine on his own, but he shut it in an instant when he noticed the look on Tony’s face. One that he had only ever seen him give to Peter, that said _I can see right through your bullshit, so don’t even try._ So instead Steve sighed and shook his head. “You mean besides the one SHIELD appointed to make sure I was fit to be released back into the world?”

“You should talk to someone,” Tony said, softly, seriously. “I know a few people who are pretty good at dealing with the whole trauma thing. If you’re interested… Just let me know.”

“I’ll think about it,” Steve agreed, and though he doesn’t say it, Tony can tell by the way Steve is looking at Peter that he understands exactly where Tony was coming from. The words hang in the air between them for a long moment.

_For him. Think about it for him._

It’s Tony who breaks the gaze first, as Peter squirms a little in his arms to get more comfortable. When he looks back up, Steve has busied himself cleaning up the mugs, and the moment between them has passed.

“Right, well I should be getting Peter to bed. Goodnight Cap.”

“Goodnight, Tony.”


End file.
